Why Your Online Form Software Must Have Reporting Capability

Form software is considered a basic tool for operating a small business with efficiency and resource savings, so it’s not unusual for small startups to invest in form software right away.

Investing in form software that only makes online forms and doesn’t allow for reporting on the data those forms collect is short-sighted, even if you save significant money by foregoing reporting features.

For most businesses, the day will come (and it’s often sooner rather than later) when data collected from online forms needs to be put into an organized report, either for a client, for improving business operations internally, or for an auditor. Don’t short-change your small business by getting form software that doesn’t have fully fledged, easy-to-use reporting features.

Smaller Businesses May Benefit Most from Reporting Capability

Big enterprises with deep pockets can bring in a consultant or other contractor to produce custom reports when the occasion arises that they need one. Or, they don’t have to squeeze dollars to the point of buying software that doesn’t quite do what they need.

Smaller businesses may find it harder to justify the purchase of form software with more features than what they need in the near term. But when the software they choose does have an extensive suite of features, including reporting features, they’re positioned to better understand what drives their business results, and they can impress new clients by being able to produce informative, great looking reports quickly, accurately, and with minimal hassle.

Compare Data, Gain Insights

Say you’ve been in business for two or three years, and the past December “felt like” it wasn’t as hectic or busy as the previous one. Is it just your imagination, or did sales really fall off? If you have been using form software to create orders, invoices, packing slips and so on, and if that form software has the ability to gather and make sense of the data your online forms have collected, you can answer your question quickly and unequivocally by generating a report.

Do you want to know which member of your sales team is making the most sales versus which one is bringing in the most total revenue? Reporting features of your online form software should allow you to do this. Are you interested in learning which department or staff member is responsible for the most requests for IT help? Reporting capabilities let you figure this out without having to really dig in and get your hands dirty.

Have Data Ready Quickly for Clients, Others

Suppose you sell products created for you by a local company, and they want to know what the sales trends look like over the course of the year, so they can staff optimally. The form software with reporting features helps you do this quickly, impressing your supplier with your speed and accuracy. And should you find yourself in the unenviable position of facing a software license audit, the forms you use to log software licenses, who they’re assigned to, and dates of expiration let you show your auditor definitively that you are in full compliance, without having to dig through file cabinets full of information.

Reduce the Need for Paper Reports

When you create reports with the right online form software, you don’t even have to produce paper copies, unless you want to. You can create reports and save them electronically, so they’re easy to find and reference, and you don’t need a clerk to spend time developing a usable paper filing system. Plus, you’ll save significantly on paper and ink, and help your company have a smaller environmental footprint.

PerfectForms is workflow management software that presents you with a clean, intuitive user interface that makes it easy to make online forms and workflows and develop insightful reports from the data you collect. With its powerful reporting features, using PerfectForms means you don’t have to bring in an outsider to make sense of all your data, and you can transmit your reports electronically rather than on paper.

If you operate a small business, you owe it to yourself and your team to check out PerfectForms. Why not watch our demo video? You’re sure to discover several ways the right workflow software can make your business run more efficiently and make your competitive edge sharper.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 24th, 2018 at 8:00 am and is filed under Form Design, Workflow Software. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.